Archive: March, 2012

Jan Ransom

POSTED: Friday, March 30, 2012, 1:37 PM

Next week City Council will continue hearings on Mayor Nutter’s proposed budget.

Since Nutter revealed his budget plan earlier this month, nearly every Thursday as Council wraps-up its weekly session, members have spoke out about Nutter's plan to move to a property tax system that uses market values, collecting an extra $90 million along the way.

After Council's session yesterday, we asked City Council President Darrell Clarke about the issue.

Jan Ransom

POSTED: Thursday, March 29, 2012, 8:03 PM

State Rep. Louise Bishop was 12 years old when her stepfather stripped her of her innocence in the middle of the night inside of her Georgia home.

Bishop shared her story with City Council which voted Thursday, 16 to 0 to pass a resolution sponsored by Councilmen Bill Greenlee and Denny O'Brien urging the State Legislature to move forward on bills that would protect victims of childhood sexual abuse. [Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez was absent.]

"No one really understands what these young men and women experience, unless you've been there," said Bishop. "No one understands how to treat them. No one understands what it feels like and no one is able to help them until a law is put into place that allows [sexual predators] to be able to [get treatment] or send them to jail."

Catherine Lucey

POSTED: Thursday, March 29, 2012, 4:41 PM

We'd like to offer a PhillyClout congrats to Nutter staffer Lauren Vidas, who's leaving the administration to serve as Voter Protection Coordinator for President Obama's re-election campaign in Pennsylvania.

"It has been an honor to work for Mayor Nutter and serve the citizens of Philadelphia over the last few years. I look forward to bringing my energy and passion for community engagement to President Obama's campaign," said Vidas, who will be overseeing a statewide effort to educate and offer legal counsel to voters in the wake of the state Voter ID bill, which will require voters to show identification at the polls.

Catherine Lucey

POSTED: Thursday, March 29, 2012, 2:51 PM

The city Board of Ethics is set to end a workaround that allows some employees at the City Controller's office to skirt city ethics rules.

A small number of workers in the Controller's office have been able to avoid a city ban on political activity because they are paid through the School District. But Board of Ethics Executive Director Shane Creamer today released an opinion from the city solicitor, which said that those workers should be subject to the same rules as all other city employees.

Creamer said the board would reach out to the Controller's office to do training and will seek to enforce the rules moving forward, but would not reprimand anyone for any past behavior.

Chris Brennan

POSTED: Thursday, March 29, 2012, 1:48 PM

Sarah Palin

Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter told WHYY's Radio Times this morning that he found former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin strong on "sensuality" but short on "intellectualism" when she ran for vice president on the ticket with Sen. John McCain in 2008.

Specter is hawking his new book -- Life Among the Cannibals: A Political Career, a Tea Party Uprising and the End of Governing as We Know It -- and was asked to discuss a section we reported on two weeks ago, about when he first met Palin. In the book, Specter writes that he noticed Palin's short skirt length and found that she "radiated sensuality."

"She is a beautiful woman," Specter said on Radio Times. "Intellectualism is not her long suit. Sensuality is. I think people would be interested in reading that section. I don’t want to give too much of the book away on this program."

William Bender, a Drexel graduate who landed at the Daily News in 2007, has covered everything from South Philly mobsters to doomsday hucksters. He occasionally writes about local food trucks and always eats everything on his plate, whether it be a bloody rib eye or a corrupt politician. E-mail tips to benderw@phillynews.com Follow William on Twitter

David Gambacorta, has been a reporter with the Daily News since 2005, covering crime, police corruption and all of the other bizarre things that happen in Philadelphia. Now he’s covering the 2015 mayor’s race, because he enjoys a good circus just as much as the next guy. He’s always looking to get a cup of coffee. Send news tips and other musings on life to gambacd@phillynews.com Follow David on Twitter